TicTac

My grandmother is from Vienna, and I can assure you that she will attest to the fact that Linzer Tortes do not (or at least should not) contain Almonds. Just roasted hazelnuts and pecans. Also, raspberry jam is perfectly suitable. Lastly, ensure you make some 'strusel' to crumble on top (basically flour and butter)

Some interesting ideas, but watermelon with clam pasta? Ugh!

More, please!

I'm using fresh blueberries. I bought them this morning, but then got invited to dinner, so I'll be using them tomorrow for a trial run before the main event. I see no problem with fresh (in fact all better); just a quick reduction with a touch of (preferably raw) sugar and use that for the sweet and sour sauce

I made a really good sweet and sour sauce recently which used blueberry preserves.

Any fresh fish up on the island? Dare I say...any fishing activities?!

Great thread. Really like the idea of the saw tooth coriander and the fried fish, I am going to steal that and do a riff on it.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't even dare take my kids out if they were not capable of behaving and in turn, not disturbing others around us. Quite frankly, that the owner (or patrons for that matter, had this occurred and I was eating there after 20 minutes I am sure even I would have said something!) took so long to address it is curious, perhaps it took that long for her to boil and in turn, explode....

A simple typo, no more, should read woman, perhaps emphasis THAT.

Perhaps us folk North of the 49th parallel really are that much more polite/easy going, maybe this is 'normal' and 'acceptable' in the States; I would bet with great certainty that the restaurant owner (and any supporters) would be in the vast minority up here. It's called tact, lessons that women desperately requires. To reiterate, I am not defending the actions (or in this case, inaction) of the parents, I am pointing out that yelling at a 2 year old is absurd (I have a 2.5 year old, and no matter the circumstance, yelling is something that never occurs, he is far more aware when a different, and often quieter, tone is taken).

'Gadgets' typically are a waste of money. The only things I use outside of the main 'tools' (pots, pans, cutting board, etc) are a good quality mandolin slicer (not really a gadget...) a really well made peeler (again, not a gadget) and thats about it....Oh, a salad spinner! Save your dough and invest in higher quality core equipment, like a range (I chose Wolf for most of our hardware), pots/pans, knives, etc.

Great find. To clarify, these are actually black raspberries - Like you I found a patch recently near our house and members of my family have been growing them for years. They are quite delicious.

That's unfortunate. We found a good organic PYO farm on 19th in Markham.

Preserving is the name of the game in my family... some of the things we have made this year: Pickled Ramp leaves Pickled Ramp bulbes Ramp Oil (with diff variations) Strawberry Jam Pickled Garlic Scapes Rhubarb chutney (savory) Rhubarb/Strawberry preserve

Ontario strawberries are amazing at the moment! We picked about 20 lbs (4 of us, 1 - 9mo pregnant) last week - much jam was made.

I don't believe I have posted an image in this thread yet, but I sure have enjoyed seeing everyone elses - now I can say I contributed! Ramp Dinner - Raw - Processing Result And another meal, a most generous family member recently returned from France shared a haul:

There is a bird flu epidemic in the US right now that is impacting this drastically. One of my clients, an organic ingredients distributor, has egg replacements flying off the shelves to many companies using Eggs in their recipes.

Liam - nice drinks and spread. Interested to hear where you are located, up here in Southern Ontario, we have had terrible amounts of pollen this season (easily visible in the air at times!)

Though we rarely eat dogs due to their (often) unknown contents, when we do, we found this brand of amazing organic ketchup and mustard (Simply Organic), along with some good sauerkraut, sometimes grilled onions, or pickled ramps/hot peppers.

An interesting topic, and one apart of a book a family of member of mine is working on. One of the themes is that when you are using an oven, in our case Gas, you are taking significant energy to heat it up, instead of just using it to cook whatever is needed at that moment in time - plan ahead. What else do you have that can benefit from a quick roast, or a slow one with the residual heat? Garlic Confit, Onions, Roasted Root Veg perhaps to throw in soup later? Ideas are as endless as the imagination.

Sadly no pictures - we were all too ravenous to pause and take any, but hopefully a description will suffice; Being Spring, Ramps are in the air, and in my fridge - Ramp Pizza - Potato Mashed Ramp Base w/ bacon fat as a cooking oil - Sliced pickled ramp bulbs - Raw Ramp Leaves - Mozzerella / Friulano mix - Cumbrae's thick sliced bacon pieces

Nice box 'o Morels, mm - curious your source and what those ran you.

Tapas style tasting menu last night: - Roasted Almonds w Rosemary and sea salt - Young Peccorino w/ Smoked tomato and arugula pesto 'melted spoon' - Halibut Cheeks w Potato Crisps & Smoked Citrus reduction - Chorizo raviolo w/ red wine reduction - Assortment of cheeses Along w/ some nice crusty breads from Black Bird Baking Co. Paired with 2x 2007 Williams Selyem Pinots 1x Russian River Valley, 1x Bucher Vineyard and 1x 2001 Andrea Oberto Barolo

I think I might have answered my own question by reading this, but I got a whack load of heirloom seeds at a seed exchange last week and was wondering when to get them started? I was told by a organic farmer I buy from to start them in a base of peat, plant seed, then top with vermiculite to keep them healthy. I dont have a green house, can I put them in a South facing window (bathroom)? Cheers

Not only that, but I would like to hear more about this 'little one' drinking wine w/ Casis...lol.